Following the graduation of its first cohort of graduates in July 2016, the University of Southampton Malaysia Campus (USMC) has now produced its first PhD graduate – Sam Fishlock.
Sam successfully defended his thesis, entitled: ‘Development of nanocrystalline graphite for MEMS and membranes’. He was under the primary guidance of Assistant Professor Dr Suan Hui Pu and Professor John McBride, both based at USMC. Sam was also supervised by Dr Harold Chong.
Dr Pu, who has substantial experience in the development of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), said:
We are very proud of Sam and all of the PhD and undergraduate students here at our Malaysia Campus.
Sam put in a huge amount of sacrifice and effort in his studies and it was a great experience guiding him along the way.
Sam spent his first year at USMC, his second year at Highfield Campus, and his third and fourth years at A*STAR IMRE in Singapore. Whilst at A*STAR, he remained an active part of USMC by helping out with undergraduate labs.
Reflecting on his experiences, Sam offered advice to other PhD students:
When I was going through a tough part in my PhD, making little progress, Dr Chong told me: “it isn’t supposed to be easy, otherwise everyone would be called Dr.”
When things become difficult, my advice is to just push on and find a way not to get too anxious about it. Talking through my problems with friends and other PhD students often helped me.
Sam plans to remain in Singapore and continue studying the broad area of materials and MEMS.
